Late Summer Tornado

While we're not quite ready for full-time schoolwork  just yet, the boys have started doing their math programs (Teaching Textbooks all around!) and Charlie and I have been continuing with some fun, easy science explorations.  

Yesterday we read about violent weather from The Usborne Encyclopedia of World Geography, and then created a tornado in a bottle with the help of one of these.  

Thankfully this is the only twister I've had to deal with all summer!

Delicious Phases Of The Moon

We started some of Charlie's science curriculum a little early again this year.  He'll be using REAL Science Odyssey Earth and Space from Pandia Press this year.  He loves, loves, loves this curriculum, and so do I.  (Last year we used Life Science.)  It is so easy to use, gets the information across in clear, concise lessons and is fun to do. 

So far this August we have been doing lessons from the weather unit and are now beginning the space unit with talking about the moon.  After reading the introductory information in the student notebook pages,  we chose to read The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons.

We then used this book plus free worksheet templates found here to do a tasty little activity...Oreo Phases of the Moon!  

I had the older boys do this activity too, in order to have any Oreos to eat.  No one complained.

Easy, fun and tasty science!

Biology Lab: Flowers

With all the winter weather getting us down lately, it was nice to start a biology unit on plants and flowers recently. Ben continues to work from the Miller-Levine (dragonfly) Biology text, while Will is reading from The Encyclopedia of Nature.  Charlie continues to love REAL Science Odyssey Life.

 I stopped at the florist the other day and brought home a couple stems of lillies to brighten our dining room table, and to be our victims for a dissection lab.

They don't suspect a thing!

The Horror!

Here's a totally fake-y photo of my darling home schooled children, happily enjoying the hell out of looking at the reproductive structures of a flower.

While the older boys did some drawing and labeling of flower parts, Charlie colored in a diagram from his science program (RSO).

And then came the looking through the microscope at the pollen.  

 And here's what we saw...

120x

400x

I love looking at things under the microscope, and spend far longer than the boys, just sitting there and gazing at...stuff.  I find it fascinating.  Looking forward to any signs of actual spring here, so maybe I can collect more things to look at!

R. E.A.L. Science Odyssey- Circulatory System

Charlie's current science topic is the human body. Real Science Odyssey covers all the basic systems of the body in a kid-friendly way.  He just finished up the unit on the circulatory system which focused on the heart and blood.

As usual there was a bit of reading, as well as a video from Bill Nye (Bill! Bill! Bill!).   Then Charlie filled in his lab sheet, which included coloring and labeling a model of what a drop of blood looks like.  

Then came Charlie's favorite part; making a "real" drop of blood model!

Quite simply, Charlie got to  mix up some plasma (Karo syrup), red blood cells (red hots candies), white blood cells (lima beans) and platelets (lentils) to illustrate how a drop of blood would look if we could see all its components.

There was a bit of Mad Scientist Drama thrown in for effect as well.

Stir it all up.  Give it a spooky label.

Voila! Spooky Halloween Blood Model of Science!!!

 

 Mwahahahahahahahaa!

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey-Plot Study

Charlie's science yesterday was a plot study.  His assignment was to mark off a small outdoor area and identify the living and non-living things he saw there. He chose a wild area in a woodsy part of our yard.  Well, he couldn't have chosen a more exciting spot because, as we removed leaf cover, we discovered not only worms, beetles, a centipede, a spider, and a tiny frog, we also found this guy:

A Spotted Salamander!

Unfortunately he was a bit perturbed by our intrusion and beat a hasty retreat! But isn't he just the cutest?!

After our fruitful investigations outdoors, Charlie filled in his lab worksheet, complete with a drawing of the Very Cool Sallie.

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey-Butterflies

I wrote a bit here about starting off Charlie's science year with hunting for caterpillars.  It's a yearly tradition, and we never tire of the process. 

Although our caterpillars ended up making their chysalides after only a day with us, we had just a fortnight to wait before we noticed some changes...

 As the butterfly prepares to emerge, the beautiful jade- toned chrysalis loses it's color, and you are able to glimpse the new life inside!

 Once the butterfly had emerged, we let it rest for the evening.  The next day, Charlie made some observations and took some measurements to complete his lab.  He then added details to the RSO notebook illustration to make it look like a Monarch.

Then it was time to set him free.  Charlie brought him outside to one of our sedum plants and set him down. 

 He rested here only a moment before flying away, using his wings for the very first time. 

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey-Isopods

Charlie and I went on a roly-poly hunt today.  What's a roly-poly?  You  may know them as pillbugs or sow bugs.  When I was a little girl, I called them cement bugs because that's where I always found them; on the damp, shady, cement patio at the back of our house.  We learned today that they are in the crustacean family, so from now on I think I will call them Land Crustaceans. Just to be a smarty.

Charlie's science program, RSO-Life gave us directions for creating a habitat for our critters, suggestions on where to find them, what to feed them, and how to keep them.  

We started by finding some moist sand to add to our container.

 We also found a nice little rotten tree limb section to add in.  At the end, we also added a couple rocks, some decaying leaves, and a few bits of carrot.

 We found some roly-polies under the tree limb, but had the best luck turning over rocks.

 

 After getting our little friends set up in their temporary environment, Charlie did the first lab. This was an observation of one of the isopods, and an activity to  decide how to classify them; as insects or crustaceans. 

Here's the little guy Charlie spent the most time observing. He was the largest one we found.

 

And here is a shot of the finished habitat.  A place any Land Crustacean would be proud to call his home. 

  Now, question is, will we be able to find any of the 20 or so of them again next week when it's time to do another lab???

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey-Arachnids

There has been a beautiful Black and Yellow Argiope (garden spider) living next to a sedum plant outside our door for a couple weeks now. Currently, our bees are enjoying the nectar from this plant, and, the spider is enjoying the bees!

We  took the opportunity yesterday to study this spider for a bit, and work on the arachnid section of RSO.  If you click on the picture you can get a better view of his jointed legs, and even the fine hairs on the legs.  Underneath him is a bee he had just wrapped up.

We decided not to capture this guy in a jar, as the curriculum suggests, because we had such a clear view as it was, and we thought it would just be upsetting to the spider.  Not to mention the wrecking of that awesome web!  We did touch him a bit with a pencil, and were surprised to see him shake the whole web rather roughly, in order to, I'm assuming, scare us off.  After identifying the two body parts (not three!), eight legs (not six!), and the joints in the legs (arthropod!), Charlie drew a picture of the spider for his notebook.  He's not a big fan of spiders (understatement!) so this observation was a stretch for him!

Next up...a Roly Poly hunt!

R.E.A.L Science Odyssey-Caterpillars

This year, Charlie and I will be working our way through R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey (RSO): Life.  I hesitated in buying this curriculum at first, because we have always managed to do enough exploring in nature in the younger years to satisfy curiosity and provide ample learning opportunities.  So why did I do it?  Well, it looked good.  And it looked like fun for Charlie.  And sometimes, you just want it all done for you!  After reading through this program, I can say that it is very well written, and it is what I would have done myself if I were putting together a formal curriculum.

Although Monkey Island Academy doesn't officially open its doors until Monday morning, Charlie and I have started doing some of the RSO labs already, as opportunity has naturally presented itself.

First off, caterpillars!  For years now, we have made a family tradition of looking for monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in our yard.  We've always had success and it is great fun to feed them and watch their transformations.  One year we even caught a butterfly on film as it emerged from its chrysalis!

We have had so little rain this year, that the Milkweed seems to be dying off early, and catties are difficult to find.  Most years we are able to find 4 or 5 in varying sizes, but this year we only found two big fat ones.  

 

 They were ready to make their chysalides within hours of us bringing them in.

 

That meant not so much interaction with them this year, but Charlie did get to observe one for a bit, and fill out his RSO lab.

He colored and labeled the diagram with head, thorax and abdomen as he observed them on the live caterpillar, as well as antennae, false legs and real legs.  When the butterflies emerge, he'll observe and do similar labs for them as well.

Next up: Arachnids!